


Tomorrow Will be Better (I hope)

by GlitterCrow



Category: Captain America (Movies), Captain America - All Media Types, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Spoilers, Blood, Creepy Alexander Pierce, Dead Dove: Do Not Eat, Emotional Manipulation, HYDRA Trash Party, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Poor Bucky Barnes, Rape/Non-con Elements, Stubborn Steve Rogers, Time Travel, Torture, Winter Soldier Bucky Barnes, fun stuff, you know
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-24
Updated: 2019-05-27
Packaged: 2020-03-13 10:11:41
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,335
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18938842
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GlitterCrow/pseuds/GlitterCrow
Summary: ***ENDGAME SPOILERS*** A 'what if' story for when Steve goes back to return Loki's scepter to 2012.  HYDRA finds out there are two Captain Americas and Pierce has an idea.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [barbaricyawp](https://archiveofourown.org/users/barbaricyawp/gifts).



> This is a gift for barbaricyawp because, well, she is a gift with her #Torture Tuesdays on tumblr and she deserves to have a story written for her. :)

Return the scepter.  That’s all he needs to do.  In and out. Steve’s done more than enough covert ops to be prepared for this mission.  Even if it got botched up the first time around, returning the scepter should be a lot easier than trying to steal it.  So far, the other stones have been relatively easy.  This one shouldn't be any different, and yet, Steve has a bad feeling about this one.  He ignores the fear welling up in the pit of his stomach and hits the button on his wrist.

 

In an instant, he’s back in 2012… For the third time.  The air is hot and smells like smoke and burning things that no one should ever have to smell.  Apparently war smells the same whether it's fighting aliens in 2012 or Nazi's in war-torn towns in Europe in the 1940’s.    

 

He rushes up the stairs of Stark Tower as fast as he can, knowing he can’t take the elevators.  When Steve enters the correct floor, he sees his past self starting to wake up from being knocked out by… by his other past self.  He makes a face at the thought. It’s a situation he could not even start to explain.  He ducks behind a wall and considers how to get the scepter back.   

 

“Captain Rogers?” A familiar voice asks from behind, startling Steve.  He’s not usually addressed as 'Captain' anymore. When Steve spins around, he sees Alexander Pierce pointing a gun at him.  Steve stammers and tries to think of what to say when his other self fully wakes up. Pierce looks over to the other Steve and narrows his eyes.  At that exact moment, agents Rumlow and Rollins enter, having just witnessed 'Steve Rogers' leave the elevator on a completely different floor.

 

“What the fuck…?” Rumlow asks, drawing his weapon and pointing it at the 2012 Steve on the floor.  

 

“Loki!  Where is Loki?!  He has Bucky! We need to get him - NOW.  He has Bucky!” Rogers starts yelling incoherently like a goddamn maniac.  This is going swimmingly.  

 

From across the room, Pierce smiles at the older Steve.  “So, you know about Sergeant Barnes then…”

 

“Of course I do,” Steve retorts with disgust.  He wants to snap Pierce’s neck, but he knows he can’t.  He’s so frustratingly helpless.  With a word, Pierce or Rumlow could easily put a bullet in either one of the their head. That would put a slight damper on the plan. 

 

Belatedly, Steve realizes that Pierce isn't exactly sure of who he's pointing a gun at right now.  Who it is doesn't matter as much as the fact that this person obviously knows something they're not supposed to.  

 

“Look - I’m _not_ Loki and I don’t give a damn about your secret HYDRA agenda.  I’m dealing with something a helluva lot bigger,” Steve tries to quickly and quietly reason with Pierce, just hundreds of feet from his past self.  “I’m… I’m from the future. I know it sounds crazy, but all I need to do is return this scepter and leave, otherwise everything _you’re_ working for -- _Project Insight_ \-- it won’t mean shit,” He spits, knowing name-dropping his forbidden knowledge of the future will be his only salvation at this point.  

 

Interest flickers in Pierce’s eyes.  He considers, silently, while also trying to figure out why else there would be two Captain America’s in the same room right now.  The other Steve is trying to get up now. Time is running out. Steve draws in a deep breath and dives headfirst into his lie.

 

“In the future - HYDRA gives the world the gift of Project Insight.  But then a few years after that, an angry God, the same one who is actually behind the attack of New York today... He literally wipes out half of existence and we stopped him.  I had to borrow this scepter to do it, but now I have to bring it back to this exact point in time otherwise what we did in the future won’t work… Sir,” Steve pleads with Pierce, knowing the man is full of foolish pride and that he has to appeal to every slimy ounce of it.  

 

“So that’s all you’re doing here?  Dropping off a borrowed scepter from your past?” Pierce asks, eyeing the staff.  Steve feels joyous relief wash over him and he nods. Pierce doesn’t even question if Steve is lying about HYDRA succeeding because he’s just that arrogant.   

 

Pierce takes the rod from Steve, running his hand down the length.  “Well you’ve done what you came here to do… Why not stay for a little fun?"

 

Steve's quick to give a fake smile.  "I'd love to, but I can't risk changing anything else in the past," he says, not daring to show any hesitation.  

 

Pierce returns the smile.  "You told your past self about Sergeant Barnes to accomplish your mission. Pretty risky, if you ask me," he answers coldy.  They both can hear the other Steve in a frenzy about finding Loki and it's obvious Rumlow and Rollins aren't sure if the Steve in front of them is Loki or if Loki was the one in the elevator. 

 

"It seems like you both _really_ want to see him _._   How about you hand me that watch you're wearing.  Not a Rolex, is it?” Pierce asks, gesturing with the gun.  Steve feels his stomach drop, knowing he has to hand over the device.  

 

"Please, sir, I- I can't stay.  HYDRA needs me to complete this mission," he lies as he removes the time-traveling device from his wrist and hands it to Pierce.  He can still save this.  He just has to lie through his teeth and make Pierce trust him.  Handing over the device is a good start. 

 

“Agent Rumlow!  Is the asset ready yet?” Pierce asks loudly, getting everyone’s attention.   Rumlow looks up, nervous at how to explain that he lost the scepter and possibly Loki.  

 

“The asset is still a little groggy, but it can perform if you give it a knife or gun.  We usually have more time to get it ready. These alien fuckers didn’t exactly RSVP, sir,” Brock explains.  

 

“Tell the tech team to stop what they’re doing and put it in room 3.  The _Avengers_ have already won this battle so it doesn’t need to fight.  Celebrations are in order, though. We have a special guest,” Pierce says, stepping to the side to reveal the second Steve in the room.  

 

“What the fucking fuck,” is all Rumlow says with a disbelieving laugh when he sees the other Steve.  “Thought this day couldn’t get any more fuckin’ weird,” he mutters before talking into his earpiece.

 

\---

 

Steve has no choice but to face his past self and quickly explain that he’s not Loki.  That’s as far as he gets before Rollins tells him to shut up and get walking.  They exit Stark Tower and turn down an alley to what looks to be an abandoned building.  However, the interior clearly reveals a hidden base of some sort.  Something to watch Stark as closely as possible, Steve figures.    

 

Steve has to hand it to himself -- his younger self is quick to figure out the situation.  It's straight out of one of Bucky's weird science fiction novels, but 2012 Steve found out gods and aliens exist today, so time travel isn't that far-fetched anymore.  “You said Bucky is alive,” Rogers hisses quietly as they walk.

 

Steve nods.  “He is.”

 

“He can’t be.  I saw him fall,” Rogers firmly says to his future self.  Steve rolls his eyes. Is his really this fucking annoying?  

 

“I know… He fell off the train.  But, Zola… Whatever Zola injected into Bucky helped him survive that fall.  He lost his left arm, but the Russians gave him a new one… and he’s been brainwashed to be a HYDRA assassin ever since,” Steve said, straight to the point as they were forced down a long corridor.  

 

That was all Rogers needed to hear to shut him up for a minute.  A part of Steve knows that Pierce is only allowing them to talk because he wants Rogers to fully be aware he's about to meet his fallen comrade.  Who better to convince him than himself?

 

“H-He’s HYDRA?” Rogers asks, like he's just been punched.  Steve winces, forgetting he went into the ice thinking HYDRA had been defeated. “Yeah… Along with everyone else here," he mutters under his breath. 

 

\---

 

Rumlow opens the door, revealing some sort of medical-looking room with a bright overhead light and a table, among other standard exam room supplies.  The asset is sitting on the table, legs hanging off the edge. He is naked and looking down.  

 

“Bucky!” both of the Steve’s gasp in unison.  Captain Roger’s gasp has tears behind it, though.  Steve understands how shocking it must be.

 

The soldier doesn’t respond to the name at all, not even looking up.

 

“Asset. Do you recognize these men?” Pierce asks, moving to the table.  

 

The asset looks up, assessing the men through the curtain of long hair.  

 

“No, sir,” the asset responds with a rusty voice.  There is a hint of fear in it’s glassy eyes, though, when it looks at the identical-looking blond men.  They look much stronger than the other men it’s used to.

 

Rogers is clearly distressed by the response, while Steve only closes his eyes and looks away.  He reminds himself things will get better. He can’t fix it right now, no matter how badly he wants to.    

 

“Bucky.. It’s me, it’s Steve,” Captain Rogers sputters pitifully, wrenching himself out of Rollins grip and sprinting towards Bucky.  

 

The asset doesn’t flinch.  Doesn’t move when Rogers grabs him by the shoulders and tries to shake him.  Rogers stiffens when he realizes Bucky isn't wearing a sleeve -- the 'new arm' his future self mentioned is a  _metal_ arm.  

 

“What... What did you assholes do to him?!” He screams in a tearful rage when the asset’s dead eyes look right through him.  

 

“Calm down, Captain… You’re just being reunited with him sooner than planned.  Isn’t that right?” Pierce says, looking at Steve expectantly. Shit.

 

“Y-yeah.  Look, don’t worry about it… I can’t tell you details, but you’ll be together,” Steve says.  Rogers is horrified at the implication.

 

“You… Disgusting... You Monster!  Y-you… You,” Rogers stammers, struggling to use the right pronouns.  “ _I’m_ HYDRA in the future?” he says, almost foaming like a rabid animal.  Steve understands the intense emotional distress he's putting upon his past self, but has no choice but to keep up the lie. He forces his head up in a nod.  

 

Rogers suddenly reaches for Rollins’ gun, holding it up to his own temple.  “I should kill myself right now. That'll erase _you_ , won’t it?!  I would rather die right now than live another second knowing I’m going to let HYDRA win,” Rogers shrieks with an absolutely insane look in his eyes.  It honestly scares Steve.  He reaches his hands out in panic, but the asset is faster.  He grabs and disarms Rogers, unsure if the man is going to hurt his superiors.  The asset hands the gun back to Rollins who has the audacity to pat the asset on the head.  

 

“N-no!  Listen, it’s not that simple.  You have no idea the things I... We -- that _we_  are going to go through,” Steve pleads desperately.  

 

“Boys, boys, let’s not worry about any of that right now.  What’s important is -- you both get to enjoy the asset’s secondary function,” Pierce says, clapping his hands together.  

 

This time, confusion equally matches both of the Steve's faces.  

 

“Oh, you know what I’m talking about, don’t you, future-boy?” Pierce says with a knowing smile.  Steve pales, thinking about the pictures and reports in the folder Nat warned him about.  The ones that he read while in the bathroom because he couldn't stop crying and throwing up.  

 

“In exchange for letting me know that HYDRA is successful in the future, I’m going to let you… and you," he says, pointing at both of the two Steves, "fuck the asset at the same time.  As soon as it makes the both of you come, you’ll be on your way, back to the future, and we’ll pop Captain Rogers in the asset’s chair and erase all his memory of this.”

That shuts both them up.  Steve wasn’t expecting to hear _that_.   

 

Pierce shoots Steve a gleaming smile.  “I’ve seen enough time travel movies to know how this works.  Do you honestly think I would be stupid enough to let your past self retain knowledge about HYDRA before you’re supposed to?  If I do, then Project Insight won’t work,” he says simply.  

 

Steve is dumbfounded, but he can’t deny that it makes sense.  

 

“Good.  Now that we have that sorted out, why don’t you both undress each other?  That might get the asset interested,” he says, pulling up a chair.

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, this is getting a little bit longer than I anticipated. Apologies to barb-aricyawp for promising a drabble and making it multiple chapters ^^;;;
> 
> Many thanks to my bestest dumpster mate, prozacplease for helping me with grammar and how to let you, my dearest reader of filth, to know which version of Steve I am referring to. 
> 
> Again, please heed the tags. I'm updating as I go, but I have clearly labelled this as hydra trash.

 

 

“Sir?  Are you telling me to fuck myself?” Steve deadpans with a raised eyebrow.  The whole thing is just so absurd that he truly can’t help himself.

 

His sass gets a rise out of Rumlow, at least.  Rumlow always enjoys crude humor. As expected, Steve’s other self isn’t amused.  Rogers is staring at Bucky, who is sitting on the edge of the exam table like he’s in some sort of standby mode.  Steve can’t help but keep glancing at him, too. He’s so pale and thin compared to _his_ Bucky.  

 

“No,” Rogers says firmly.  “I’m not going to touch him _or_ Bucky.  That’s his name, by the way.  James Buchanan Barnes. He’s not an ‘it’ or... or an ‘asset.’  He’s a goddamn _person_ ,” he adds, forcing the words so his voice doesn’t waver.

 

Steve shakes his head.  He’s wise to the lengths Pierce and HYDRA are willing to go to in order to get their way.  God, he actually feels _bad_ for his young, naive self. Self-sacrificing idiot. He already knows what Rogers’ next move will be.  

 

“Go ahead; Try n’ make me,” Rogers challenges, jutting out his chin.  

 

Pierce calmly nods to Rumlow, who gives that terrible smirk of his.  Rumlow flips open a knife and moves over to Bucky, yanking him off the table by his hair.  Bucky’s breath catches from the sudden force, but otherwise he isn’t phased. He rights himself when Rumlow lets go of his hair and stands stiffly at attention.   

 

Any remaining color drains from Rogers’ face.  “No... W-Wait. Not him. No,” he stammers, the realization pouring down him like a bucket of icy water.  

 

Rumlow grins and stares directly at the younger Steve while running the shiny blade over Bucky’s chest and down the middle of his abdomen.

 

Rogers is shaking his head now, unable to speak as he watches the tip of Rumlow’s knife find the divot of Bucky’s navel.  The knife pauses there.

 

Bucky gasps when Rumlow pushes the knife into his belly button, letting only a tiny noise escape as a rivulet of blood runs down his skin.  Steve feels his hands clench into fists.  Even with the knowledge that Bucky has advanced healing, it's quickly becoming too much to bear.  

 

“STOP!” Rogers screams.  

 

“Sure, okay, kid.  I’ll stop,” Rumlow smiles.  “Asset, push that knife in a little deeper for me, will ya?” he asks with unusual politeness as he lifts the asset’s hand to the handle of the knife.

 

To both the past and future Steve’s horror, Bucky doesn’t hesitate.  He wraps his fingers around the handle and pushes the knife deeper into his own belly. Even more distressing is that he's actually more forceful than Rumlow.  Bucky’s face falters slightly as he grunts, and Steve breaks.

 

“Okay, okay, _enough_!  We get the idea. You won’t hurt us, you’ll just hurt him.  Please,” he says to Pierce.

 

“Good job, asset.  You can take it out now.  Then I want you to watch these two men,” Pierce says with a wave.  

 

Just like that, Bucky obeys, holding the knife out to return to Rumlow.

 

“I don’t want your blood all over it — lick it off,” Rumlow says with mild annoyance.  

 

Steve thinks he sees Bucky’s mouth twitch in hesitation, but he obeys the command, even though his belly button is bleeding badly.  Rumlow takes it and wipes it off on Rollins’ shirt.

 

With that, Steve turns to face his younger self.  “Unless you have any other bright ideas, I suggest we just do this and get it over with,” he says, unbuckling Rogers’ belt.  Rogers doesn’t react, just stares at Bucky who is now staring right back at him. Next, the striped binder around Rogers' waist comes off.  By the time Steve opens the seam to his uniform’s chest, Rogers is crying. Steve sighs and moves in to kiss his younger self on the neck.   

 

“Stop it.  This is just a test.  A _horrible_ test,” Steve murmurs, trying to both comfort and encourage himself.  

 

“I... I can’t.  I don’t want to,” Rogers sobs softly.  

 

“I don’t either, but we don’t have a choice.  The stakes are too high,” Steve says, pulling the captain’s hands up so he can start to undress him.  

 

Rogers’ hands shake as they work to get Steve’s belt open.  He fumbles for a few more moments before looking at Pierce with tears running down his face.  

 

“Please… Can you at least stop the bleeding?” he asks softly.  

 

Rollins is the one who steps in now, going to one of the cabinets and pulling open a drawer.  He tells the asset to lay on the table and does a hasty job at wiping up the blood (smearing it more than cleaning it) and stuffs a cotton ball inside Bucky’s navel and slaps two bandaids in the shape of an ‘x’ over the wound.  At the very least, Rollins carefully helps Bucky stand back up so he can keep watching the two blond men.

 

Rogers nods in thanks and wipes at his face before undressing Steve some more.  They each take their own boots off for efficiency’s sake, and then all that remains is to fully get out of the jumpsuits.  It’s something they have to help each other with, to Pierce’s amusement. It’s awkward and not at all conducive to actually turning anyone on as they hop around.    

 

Suddenly Rogers stops and frowns.  Steve looks at him, trying to figure out why, when he remembers.  Of course… of _fucking_ course.  His face turns beet red when he remembers what he’s wearing.  The star-spangled jockstrap that Bucky jokingly gave him. Since he was truly the star-spangled man with a plan once more.  And Bucky liked the way it made his ass look. Then it became a dare to wear it on the mission. Steve never backed down from a dare from Bucky.  

 

It draws a look of confusion from Rogers, and both Rumlow and Rollins crack up at the sight.  

 

“Go on, asset, better salute the captain!” Rumlow laughs.  Bucky blinks, staring at Steve’s crotch before cluelessly giving a salute.  This makes even Pierce laugh. Steve is beyond mortified, but to his relief, it actually makes Rogers give a ghost of a smile.  

 

“Remind me not to dress myself in the future,” he says with a sigh as he pulls down his own plain white boxer briefs and kicks them off. Steve huffs softly.  

 

"I didn't.  Bucky did," he says under his breath.  He turns to face Pierce.  

 

“All right, so now what?  You want us to just jerk each other off?” Steve asks, desperate to draw attention away from his embarrassment.  He unceremoniously removes his jockstrap and tosses it aside. Being naked is better than wearing it for another second.  

 

“You’re welcome to, if that’s what it takes to get you hard… If you’ll recall, I said you were both going to get to use the asset.  He’s going to make you both come. He’s very good at it. Asset, do you understand? That’s your mission, to make both men come inside you,” Pierce says.  

 

The asset nods and moves to stand next to both Steves.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay - I promise I'm getting to the good stuff now lol. I am having a little too much fun writing this!

**Author's Note:**

> **I posted this hastily, so I have gone back and added a few things. Chapter 2 will be up soon!


End file.
